Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology in which business processes can be performed by a computer software, otherwise known as a metaphorical ‘robot’. The building of this custom software for your specific business is performed by software development companies. This technology is sweeping the world where the increased demand for bigger profit margins, efficient handling of daily business processes is being met by RPA which performs the same task that were previously handled by humans but are now better performed by software. Directly, as a result, software development companies are increasingly offering RPA services to businesses. Companies like Conaxiom have a dedicated team that handle RPA services for their customers.

In the ecommerce sector, most of the big stores like Amazon, Walmart etc. are using RPA to handle most of their day to day tasks like order fulfillment, inventory etc. Devoid of common human errors, RPA has swept through the ecommerce sector in a big way but is not limited to big stores. It can also be employed by smaller ecommerce stores which stand to benefit greatly from the accompanying advantages.

This article will discuss the 5 major advantages of RPA for your ecommerce store that will help you towards increased profits and, therefore, the overall success of your business. Every little competitive edge helps in this highly competitive market and RPA is one of those technologies that allows its users to stay ahead of the curve.

1. Personalization for Shoppers:
For people who shop from ecommerce stores, the suggested products that show up on the website specifically for them are the result of RPA. It helps ecommerce stores by singling out every customer’s needs and products they will likely purchase. It may better shopper personalization in any or all of the following ways:

• Integrating RPA with the store’s chatbot for efficient handling of customer queries.
• RPA self-service option for optimum customer experience in shopping.
• RPA in order receiving makes buying easy for customers and, therefore, increase customer retention and increased traffic.

RPA helps with shopper personalization in a number of ways and a good customer experience which results from this is vital for the success of ecommerce stores.

2. Help with Logistics:
The supply chain is the integral part of many businesses and extremely complex in nature. Human workers, therefore, are more likely to make mistakes in this process. RPA, however, can prove to be invaluable for the logistics department of any business, especially ecommerce stores. It can help keep track of every product and each and every step in the supply chain process. Moreover, it does this faster than humans.
Some of the other benefits of RPA in this particular area of ecommerce businesses are:

• Generating invoices.
• Automated emails to customer queries.
• Safe, hassle free and quick payment process.

RPA performs a range of useful tasks in the logistical operations of any business and specifically for ecommerce stores where the supply chain is a major part of these organizations. Employing this technology will quicken the pace of these operations and also minimize errors that were previously rife in this area.

3. Warehouse Automation:
Thanks to RPA, warehouses are not at all what they used to be. They are becoming increasingly automated and some do not even require a single human worker. Picking up items, delivering items, placing items in specific places etc. are all tasks that are now being performed by mobile controlled robots. This saves up on costs considerably since you do not take on a warehouse worker full time who might even be incapable of handling heavier products and would require an extra pair of hands. RPA, however, eradicates this need by handling all the work previously performed by a whole team of human employees. This saves up on time and physical effort on top of cost savings.

4. Space Optimization:
Maximizing floor space is a vitally important concept in warehouses. The business has to make sure that the products are located at the most optimum place which will also facilitate their movement to another place if need be. Moreover, as the business grows, it needs more and more space for more and more products to keep up with increased demand. RPA in this area helps by the installation and handling of movable shelves and saves up on floor space considerably. For examples, shelves can be stacked next to each other with no space in between but when you need to access one, a panel on the shelf will have a button which upon pressing will create a space like an aisle through which you can access it.

5. Automated Marketing:
RPA can also help an ecommerce business automate a lot of its marketing processes. In today’s highly competitive market, ecommerce stores cannot afford taking on a full time team to create a marketing department. This will cost them time, money and will be prone to common human errors that can range from typos in emails to forgetfulness. RPA technology, however, does not make these errors, are much quicker and can function 24/7/365 requiring no breaks or sick leaves unlike human employees. They can perform email marketing, updating existing customer data, run lead nurturing functions etc. Moreover, RPA has the capacity to perform all of these simultaneously and at a much bigger scale than humans e.g. sending out emails in the thousands and scraping thousands of potential email id’s in a matter of minutes. This saves up on time and cost in a way that helps businesses move faster and hugely increases profit margins.

Conclusion:
RPA is becoming increasingly in demand for reasons that are apparent. As businesses are cutting back on manual labor, RPA is rising to prominence as organizations are striving to become more efficient and quicker in their operations. The application of RPA in these circumstances is clearer in the ecommerce sector than in any other where repetitive daily tasks upon which the revenue of the business is entirely dependent and which were previously performed by humans are now being performed by robotics. The difference between the performance of the businesses with human labor and with RPA presents a sharp contrast with the latter performing at a level much higher than the former. If you are an ecommerce store owner, you must automate as many of your business processes as you can to derive the benefits of increased profit margins and less work on your hands.